training for the Bike MS 200-miler

no, i'm not posting this to hit you up for money -- but if you want to donate, that's cool. i update my fundraising site after every ride, and i'm too lazy to cut and paste the updates here. so, get some of this.

Is this 200 miles in 2 days?! Oh my...

I've sorted through my saddle sore issues--happily. Butt Butter, a different saddle and a saddle angle change did the trick. A hilly 50 miler last Saturday proved it to be OK.

However, my left knee is now acting up. This is of pretty big concern to me right now. 4 years of skateboarding and no issues--a couple of months of cycling and now it acts up.

I'll be taking the mountain bike out along the Cape Cod Canal (MA) and surrounding areas on Saturday as I visit my cousin and her family there. Probably dragging her husband out w/ me.

Continued good luck.

I last rode the 50km events for MS back in '93 and '94. It was a great event, well supported. Enjoy!

a double century? ouch. best I've done is 150 in a day

I'm an old roadie, ex racer-messenger-bike shop guy.

The knee problem - is it only while you're on the bike, only after you ride, all the time? does walking up stairs aggravate it? down stairs?

What pedal system and cleats are you using? what's your position on the bike like? can you pedal with your ~heels~ on the pedals and maintain contact but with about no knee bend angle?

Any change in your position lately?

Tiny changes multiplied by 10s of 1000s of pedal revolutions can manifest as the beginning of knee problems. Best to diagnose and get on the path to recovery before it worsens.

At minimum, make sure you're sitting neither too high nor too low and that your cleats allow some rotational float and aren't binding at any point in your stroke. Warm up before hammering up hills, ice afterward, and take some ibuprofin as an anti-inflamatory at night.

And spin! no mashing big gears - 95 rpm or better.

Let's see--

Only happens on the bike--about 15 miles in. Burning, inflamed feeling that goes away fairly quickly after riding. It would be a minor twinge while at the skatepark--way more on the bike.

I used toe clips and straps--fairly loose. Adidas shell toe skate shoes--no pain in the feet/soles. Laugh away.

I had the seat height checked at a shop not long ago. Got a new seat, though. I'll do the heel trick now...

I'm all about spinning--I'm wired to spin at ~90rpm--but that was with an older computer w/ a cadence readout--new one is a whopping 5 functions.

Gamby, sorry to hear about the knee. I hope it clears up soon. Shell toes FTW! I haven't gotten road shoes or pedals yet, and I'm thinking about another pair of Sambas with the old Campy pedals and Christophe toe clips.

Motomoron, my legs don't spin. I push the biggest gear that I can maintain 75rpm. For me, that's spinning. ;-) I'm 43 and have been riding this way since I was 10. Maybe I could learn to spin, but I'm pretty comfortable with how I ride and have suffered zero knee issues.

Grtechguy, no double century, just back-to-back century days. I've never done more than 103 in a day.

AngryCorvair wrote: Shell toes FTW!

I think they're technically "El Segundos", but they are a newschool adaptation of the shell toe for skating. Great skate shoe, FWIW. They're great for toe clips because they don't let anything pinch your toes. Plus, you can look cool when you walk around off of the bike.

75rpm mash--I just can't do it. I'd get way too tired way too quickly. Your average speeds are way up there, though. My speed in the flat is 15-17mph depending on wind and just how "flat" flat is.

gamby, where in your knee is the pain? can you be any more descriptive about the conditions it presents itself under?

you don't happen to know if one leg is longer than the other, do you?

Pain is behind the kneecap, a hair down from center. Kind of a burning/inflamed feeling rather than a sharp one.

This weekend's training was cut short by a comedy of errors. Got on the mountainbike on some semi-singletrack (powerlines on Cape Cod, MA).

Friend who was admittedly out of shape hung in for awhile and turned around. I kept going for another mile or so. Turned around.

BOOM!!! Rear blowout. berkeley.

Spare tube had a hole in it (forgot to replace it w/ a new one from last blowout ages ago). BERKELEY.

Oh well, I have my patch kit. But the cement had petrified over the years. BERKELEY!!!!!!

Stuff some brush into the tire, limp along til friend meets me w/ a spare tube on a road that we crossed over--where he parked his truck.

A wasted effort.

The knee problem sounds like a slightly torn meniscus that never healed up. Did you ever have a bad fall or anything?

(Nope, I don't know what I'm talking about. I'm just drawing on the knowledge I've absorbed while dealing with my knee.

That's what my wife thinks it is (schooled as a chiropractor).

It took a couple of impacts through sub-par knee pads in the skatepark (upgraded to really good pads in the early fall), but no weird twists--especially recently.

Basically, I hope I can get through the ride, because I REFUSE to not do it at this point. I've raised too much money. I'll get it checked out post-ride. Ibuprofin will be key.

42 flat miles today. Knee became an issue at the 20 mile mark. Ibuprofen mid-way calmed it down a bit, but not much (I'll up the dose a bit).

I raised my seat a few mm in order to get better extension. I think doing that hilly 50 on a too-low seat really messed me up.

So now, I'm really bummed that this knee will be making this ride miserable. I'm not too happy about it.

About all I can do now is find a good brace--I'm thinking about one of those cho-pat knee straps that the hoop guys wear.

Resting it 'til the 150 that starts on Saturday. I'll see a doc after that...

So I'll start with the important part: Thanks to the generosity of friends, family, and strangers, $2,770 has been donated to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society through my fundraising effort for this year's ride. Donations in my name are being accepted through the end of August. After that, of course they'll still accept your donation, but it won't be credited to my total.

Ride summary: Saturday was hot and humid, with a mild headwind. I was on the road around 7:45, which I'm pretty sure was my earliest start ever. Tagged along with a group of 5 @ 21mph for about 90 minutes, then did a lot of solo riding after that. Finished in a personal best 6:12:26 for 100.2 miles.

Sunday was cooler and calmer, only a few miles of headwind and definitely a few miles of tailwind. Started off slow, 14 - 15 mph for the first 30 minutes, just enjoying the crisp morning air, then picked it up to about 18 mph for the next 30 minutes until the first rest stop. Filled my bottles and was on the road again. At some point maybe 25 miles in, I saw a dude way up in the distance and gave myself 30 minutes to reel him in. Took me 24 minutes to finally get on his wheel, so figured our paces were pretty similar and rode with him until the lunch stop @ 65 miles. About 10 miles before lunch, there was an older dude kinda laboring along, so we slowed a little and pulled him until he felt better, first about 14 mph but eventually up to about 16.5 before he told us to go on without him. Made the lunch stop (65 miles) in 3:59 and change, the first time I've ever hit Day 2 Lunch in under 4 hours. Other dude was still resting when I was ready to go, so I took off solo. Skipped the next 2 rest areas, and at the 90-mile mark I stopped for bottle refill. I checked the clock and realized that I had a shot at another personal best, but I'd need to average 20 mph to do so. I figured I could do that for 40 minutes, as I was still feeling pretty good. Since all routes were back together for this stretch, I was picking off a rider every few minutes, which is great for the motivation.

About 5 miles from the finish, I saw someone in my mirror getting closer, probably 50 yards back. I decided I would not be passed this close to the finish line, so I stomped up every incline and hammered the flats with pretty much everything I had. Full-on mouth breathing. I'd stretch it out on the climb and he'd reel me in a little bit on the flats. Fortunately my gains were bigger than his, and I finished probably 100 yards ahead of him. Crossed the line in 6:08:53, another personal best.

The resto-mod Mirella performed flawlessly, and gave me a comfy and fast (for me) ride that got a lot of attention from other riders.

Not related to the MS ride, I'm off the road bike for a week or so, but I'm hitting a trail ride Thursday after work and I'm doing a 4-person-team MtBike race on Saturday.

I'll be the first to say kudos for making it through the ride in one piece. I'll be tackling Livestrong in Philly in a month on a newly purchased cross bike. You finish the ride with burning legs but it is an awesome feeling knowing that you rode for a good cause and it will go to help someone who needs it.

Nice job.

Holla.

In reply to AngryCorvair:

Thanks for sharing, it's motivating to hear about another ride right before I do mine. I am doing the Finger Lakes Challenge the first full weekend in August. I'll be doing the 100 on Saturday and Probably the 25 on Sunday with my father. We are riding for my girlfriend (and hopefully future wife)'s mother who has progressive MS.

I work part time at a bike shop, mostly helping people get into their first road bikes or get set up with a tri-bike. I dig the Mirella. My father is riding the 84 Trek steel frame I fixed up and gave him this spring. My primary goal was to get him to exercise more and give something back after all the time he spent carting me around on the back of his bike when I was a little one around the same time that Trek was made. He surprised me when he said he wanted to do the MS ride as well

My intent is also to not come here fishing for money but if anyone feels like giving: http://main.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR/Bike/NYRBikeEvents?px=4371189&pg=personal&fr_id=14062

~Josh

Dammit.

Since you did this last year, I have been saving my change I find in all my project cars to donate to this. All this travelling and I let this slip under the radar.

You want me to donate it this year or wait till next year and add it to the total?

Nice job

Gamby is freaking me out... And so are the rest of you with this torn miniscus stuff. I have that same issue in my right knee.

93celicaGT2 wrote: Gamby is freaking me out... And so are the rest of you with this torn miniscus stuff. I have that same issue in my right knee.

frontal knee pain when cycling could be as simple as a saddle that is too low.

quick easy way to check saddle height: sit with your heel on the pedal and the pedal furthest from the seat. your knee should just lock out. Adjust saddle height accordingly. now, when you move the ball of your foot to the pedal, you should have just the right amount of bend at the knee.

bluej wrote:

93celicaGT2 wrote: Gamby is freaking me out... And so are the rest of you with this torn miniscus stuff. I have that same issue in my right knee.

frontal knee pain when cycling could be as simple as a saddle that is too low. quick easy way to check saddle height: sit with your heel on the pedal and the pedal furthest from the seat. your knee should just lock out. Adjust saddle height accordingly. now, when you move the ball of your foot to the pedal, you should have just the right amount of bend at the knee.

I don't actually bike anymore... i get it just walking. I get it behind the kneecap on the front, and also a burning/twinge in the back of my knee. Not every day, but certainly any day that i've done anything remotely physical.

The first thing I'd suggest is cycling shoes and a floating clipless pedal system. They provide a a much more stable platform to push on, and promote good alignment of the various parts of your leg. The rotational float allowed is exceptionally "free" - decades on the bikes and in the shops have convinced me that foot position - saddle height and saddle fore-aft location are the big drivers for chronic knee problems. Allowing some measure of rotational freedom really helps.

Call me an elitist bike-weenie snob, but wearing the right gear makes riding much more enjoyable. I'll ride to the coffee shop on my (1981 GT 26") BMX cruiser wearing slip-on Vans and a tee shirt but wouldn't set foot out the door for an actual road ride without bib shorts (w/ chamois cream) my beloved Sidi Genius 4 shoes, a cycling jersey, gloves and helmet. It just works better...

So you're saying that old Vans and no clips aren't the hot setup? My wife clips in. I really should look into it.

In reply to David S. Wallens

it's sort of like the difference between a stock 3 point belt and a 5/6 harness. if you're fully supported, it makes doing everything else easier

93celicaGT2: bummer, that does sound like more of a physical problem